Queen of Men (King Maker 2)

I closed my eyes and leaned back on a nearby tree. Now his guilt was mine, as inadvertently I’d caused Margaret’s pain as well.

Since we were getting everything out in the open, I asked, “You had a girlfriend?”

“Carrie,” he said frankly. “She was from a small town and we had a lot in common.”

“Pretty?” That was a dumb question. Turner was as hot as they came.

He lifted his shoulders quickly in a dismissive gesture. “Sure.”

“Why’d you break up?” Now I was crossing the line into none of my business territory. If he didn’t answer, I wouldn’t press him. It wasn’t like I wanted to talk about Kalen or Scott.

“She wasn’t you.”

Looking up into his lovely eyes, I saw the pain again. “I should hope not,” I teased. “If I had a twin that my parents didn’t tell me about, I’d be pretty pissed.”

He laughed, and my joke to ease the tension worked. Turner, however, wasn’t done with his confession. “In the end we wanted different things. She wanted the house and all the trappings. Small-town life had made her dream of grander things.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” I said, playing devil’s advocate.

“It wasn’t that. She was into the things.” He punctuated that last word.

I lifted my head in acknowledgment. “She was materialistic.”

“Exactly. She just didn’t want a bigger house. She wanted the biggest house on the block so she could flaunt her success to everyone she left behind.”

That was one way of losing him, I thought to myself. “She didn’t know you very well.”

“I didn’t know her either until it was too late.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what he was doing with her that kept him from asking the important questions, but I decided it wasn’t an answer I wanted to know.

“That’s the thing I love most about you, Bailey. You get me like no one else.”

Trying to stop this from where it was headed as he moved closer to me, I blurted, “What if I wanted the biggest house and car?”

“I’d give you those things and fill it with our kids.”

My lips felt dry. I licked them as he slowly stalked the small distance between us. “You’re not worried about my wanting things?”

He chuckled. “You care less about things than I do. Give the girl plumbing and electricity here, and you might stay.”

“Maybe.” And that was the last word before the heat between us ignited like a bomb.

His eyes explored my body like he had X-ray vision. His desire became tangible and sparked my own. When his hand tangled in my hair, he stared at my mouth like I could quench his thirst. My lips tingled as anticipation lit a charge inside me.

“This dress should be labeled cockblocker,” he hissed.

I looked at the fabric that covered me completely. His hands disengaged and reached my hips, fisting the fabric. Slowly, he pulled it higher to reveal my calves and then my knees.

He descended to kneel before me so fast I had no time to stop him. Then reverently he looked up at me with the hem of my dress held at thigh level. There in his eyes, I saw the answer he sought.

There was nothing to stop me but my conscience because I belonged to no one but myself.

We were adults, and it wasn’t as if this was our first time. We’d seen each other’s skin.

Yet, Kalen’s face replaced Turner’s for a second and a guilt I shouldn’t feel filled me.

As if a higher power sensed my indecision, the school bell tolled as a reminder not only to the students but to the entire community that break was over.

Turner stood and adjusted himself. With a quick raise of the eyebrows, he said, “They’ll be looking for me.”

My mouth felt dry and as swollen as my guilt. He’d been passionate when we were young. But this Turner acted like a man very much in control of how to pleasure a woman. The thought of how many women had helped him learn his tricks of the trade made me queasy.

“I’ll head back,” he said.

Now I did frown. “You don’t want me to walk with you?”

He shook his head. “I want you to walk with me, ride me, marry me, and bear my children. But if you come with me now, I’m afraid everyone will know just how much I want my child growing inside you.”

His sexy grin made my heart flutter. I watched him walk away until I couldn’t see him anymore. Then I sat and rested my head against the cold tree. What the hell had I almost done? How had things spun out of control so fast? This was going to complicate things. I loved him. I did.

I just couldn’t stop thinking of Kalen. I hated him and wanted him all the same.

Lizzy made me question my decision. If only I could get a sign. Something that would give me the answers to the questions in my heart.